Personalized lighting for open area

• US 9,426,865 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2012
• Issued: 08/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Liu, Kangjun, Lou, Di
• Primary Examiner(s): Taningco, Alexander H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Garcia, Christian L
• Application Number:
  US14/368,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20140375230A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,340 Days
• Field of Search: 315/294, 315/291, 315/312, 315/307, 315/297, 315/318, 362/249.02, 362/227
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/105 in response to determined parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/155 Coordinated control of two or more light sources

Abstract

The present invention proposes a method, apparatus, controller and system for controlling illuminance. Specifically, the system comprises at least one light source, each of the at least one light source comprising a plurality of light modules and each of the plurality of light modules being adjustable independently; and a controller configured to control the illuminance of a target area in the lighting system. One or more light modules associated with the illuminance of the target area are selected from the at least one light source based on the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area and a lighting distribution of each of the at least one light source. Then, at least one of the selected one or more light modules is adjusted to meet a certain requirement for the illuminance of the area. As a result, personalized lighting for an open area is effectively achieved.

Claims

1. A method of controlling illuminance of a target area in a lighting system, wherein the lighting system comprises at least one light source and each of the at least one light source comprises a plurality of light modules, an output level of each of the plurality of light modules being adjustable independently, wherein different light modules within each of the at least one light source differ in terms of lighting direction, the method comprising:

selecting at least one light module, which is associated with the illuminance of the target area, from the at least one light source based on the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area and a lighting distribution of each of the at least one light source, that represents a light intensity of the light source in respective directions in a space; and

adjusting the output level of at least one of the selected at least one light module.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of at least one light module comprises:

calculating at least one relative direction of the target area from the at least one light source; and

obtaining the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area based on the at least one relative direction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of at least one light module comprises:

obtaining, from the position relationship, a relative direction of the target area from a light source;

obtaining, from the lighting distribution of the light source, lighting directions of a plurality of light modules emitting from the light source;

comparing the relative direction with the lighting directions; and

selecting one light module from the plurality of light modules of the light source based on the comparison results.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting at least one of the selected at least one light module comprises:

adjusting in proportion or independently the at least one light module to meet a lighting requirement.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the lighting distribution of a light source is in a form of a triangle, a droplet, or a sector.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the light module comprises at least one light emitting element;

and wherein a light emitting element is a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or a fluorescent.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising sequences of instructions tangibly embodied thereupon, the sequences of instructions that will cause at least one processor to carry out the steps of the method according to claim 1.

8. A controller for controlling the illuminance of a target area in a lighting system, wherein the lighting system comprises at least one light source and each of the at least one light source comprises a plurality of light modules, an output level of each of the plurality of light modules being adjustable independently, wherein different light modules within each of the at least one light source differ in terms of lighting direction, the controller configured to:

select at least one light module, which is associated with the illuminance of the target area, from the at least one light source based on the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area and a lighting distribution of each of the at least one light source that represents a light intensity of the light source in respective directions in a space; and

adjust the output level of at least one of the selected at least one light module.

9. The controller of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate at least one relative direction of the target area from the at least one light source; and

obtain the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area based on the at least one relative direction.

10. The controller of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to:

obtain, from the position relationship, a relative direction of the target area from a light source;

obtain, from the lighting distribution of the light source, lighting directions of a plurality of light modules emitting from the light source;

compare the relative direction with the lighting directions; and

select one light module from the plurality of light modules of the light source based on the comparison results.

11. The controller of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to:

adjust in proportion or independently the at least one light module to meet a lighting requirement.

12. The controller of claim 8, wherein the lighting distribution of a light source is in a form of a triangle, a droplet, or a sector.

13. The controller of claim 8, wherein the light module comprises at least one light emitting element;

and wherein a light emitting element is a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or a fluorescent.

14. A lighting system comprising:

at least one light source, each of the at least one light source comprising a plurality of light modules and an output value of each of the plurality of light modules being adjustable independently, wherein different light modules within each of the at least one light source differ in terms of lighting direction; and

a controller configured to control illuminance of a target area in the lighting system by selecting at least one light module, which is associated with the illuminance of the target area, from the at least one light source based on the position relationship between the at least one light source and the target area and a lighting distribution of each of the at least one light source that represents a light intensity of the light source in respective directions in a space, and adjusting the output value of at least one of the selected at least one light module.